The "Kadyrovs" have arrived in southern Ukraine, Russian forces are retreating in the northeast

 

"In order to strengthen the Russian forces in the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region, the so-called Kadyrovts unit, formed on the basis of national identity, has arrived, numbering up to 1,300 people," said the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on September 10.

 

The Kadyrovs are a paramilitary force formed in Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya that effectively serves as the region's own army and has been accused of massive rights abuses.

 

Withdrawal of Russian forces

There is growing evidence that Ukrainian troops have made significant advances in the Kherson region, which has been the focus of heavy fighting in recent weeks and was seized by Russian forces shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.

 

"The Ukrainian army has taken full control of the town of Balaklia in the northeastern Kharkiv region, along with another major advance after launching a counter-offensive earlier this month," Ukraine's Defense Ministry said.

 

The statement came after the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the withdrawal of its forces from two areas for the first time since the start of the counter-offensive.

 

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the troops "will be regrouped from the Balaklia and Izyum areas to the Donetsk region."

 

Konashenkov said the move was being made to "achieve the goals of a special military operation" that requires "increasing efforts in the direction of Donetsk."

 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian armed forces have liberated about 2,000 square kilometers of territory since the start of the counter-offensive.

 

Vitaly Ganchev, an official appointed by Moscow to the Kharkiv region, urged residents of areas previously controlled by Russian forces to evacuate.

 

"We are evacuating people from cities such as Izhyum, Shevchenkovo, Balakliya and Kupyansk, by all possible means," Ganchev said on Russian television.

 

A multi-week offensive

Ukraine has been talking about a major counter-offensive in the south around Kherson for weeks, and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a visit to Prague on September 9 that "we are now seeing success in Kherson".

 

Austin also noted the progress of Ukrainian forces in northeastern Ukraine near the country's second-largest city, Kharkiv.

In his nightly televised address on September 9, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the military for its successes, saying Ukrainian troops had recaptured more than 30 settlements in the Kharkiv region since the counteroffensive began this week.

 

British military intelligence announced on September 10 that Ukrainian units involved in a counter-offensive to retake Russian-held territory in the east were now closing in on the city of Kupyansk, which they said was a key hub for supply routes to Russian forces along the Donbas front line.